Mistaken- A Miraculous Ladybug Season 2 Ep 16 Alternate Ending Fanfic
by Random Fangirl X3
Summary: After the disastrous TV show shot at her house, Marinette is set on avoiding Adrien. But when he confronts her about the show, she can't help but notice the uncanny similarities between her crush and her superhero partner. And when Marinette realizes that her suspicions are right, she runs out of the room. Adrien is left behind, when he makes a miraculous discovery about Marinette
1. Chapter 1- Thanks To The Grotographs

**Mistaken**

*Author's Note*

Exactly 36 hours ago, I was blessed with the most beautiful episode of Miraculous Ladybug so far. And after seeing the Adrienette scene at the end, I knew that I NEEDED to write a fanfic about it. The idea came naturally, and I have spent all of the time I could spare to write this "Alternate Ending" for Episode 16. I hope you guys enjoy the first chapter of "Mistaken; A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction"! ^w^

Oh yea BTW, this is my first published fanfic, so I'm sorry if my writing is bad...

 **Chapter One: Thanks to the Grotographs**

 **Marinette snuck into her school with only one thing on her mind; Staying out of sight and avoiding everyone; Especially Adrien. She looked around and scanned the area, then tried to make herself unnoticeable by staying very close to the walls. Her top priority was staying out of Adrien's sight for today. For at least a few days. Until she was sure he had completely forgotten about what happened. And she still couldn't believe that this whole disaster had happened. It was all because of yesterday's TV show that was filmed at her house. The cameraman had made his way into Marinette's room, filming ALL of her pictures of Adrien, scattered around her walls, desks, and even computer screen. Filming her obsession with Adrien for only the world to see. On live television. Probably ruining any chances she could've had with Adrien.**

 **And that was exactly why she needed to avoid him. So that he would just forget about what he saw in a few days time. Because if he managed to confront her about what had happened on that TV show, her life would be ruined. More ruined then it already was, that is. But… No No No… she would be fine…. She would definitely NOT run into Adrien… as long as she stayed perfectly hidden from the world.**

 **She started to make her way into the locker room, but then quickly jumped behind the door, Almost caught face-to-face with Chloe and Sabrina. Marinette watched them walk away, then slinked into the locker room. She wondered if Chloe had watched the show. Maybe… but yet again, she wasn't really the biggest fan of Jagged Stone. Or Marinette. But wait… Jagged Stone; Now she remembered. How Jagged went on for about 20 seconds, talking about how "The baker's daughter's got a little crush" or "How teenage love is sooooo sweet!". And he said all of that ON LIVE TV, basically confirming for Adrien that she had a crush on him if he had ever had any doubt about it before. Yup. Her life was officially over.**

 **She swiftly grabbed her locker door and swung it open, then placed her bags into it. The coast looked clear for now. She let out a sigh. "Whew… HOPEFULLY he didn't see me," She said, backing up and slamming her locker door, only to be met by someone standing next to her. "Hey Marinette" Adrien… IT WAS ADRIEN. Her face went white, and she jumped backwards, shouting in surprise. It. Was. ADRIEN. Right here, standing in front of her. She hadn't avoided him at all. This COULDN'T be happening. Yet it was.**

 **He looked at her with a serious expression, then spoke. "How's it going? After what happened at your place last night, I was worried that-" "Oh, so you watched the show then…" He knew. Great. She had to act fast to come up with an excuse for the pictures. She laughed nervously. She couldn't think of anything to say. She could barely take talking to him. But… maybe she could just… think of him as someone else… someone who she could have a natural conversation with. And the first person to pop into her head was Chat Noir. She could imagine that he was Chat Noir. Maybe that would work… Besides; Would she ever turn into a stuttering, blushing mess when talking to Chat? No. No, she would never. So she just had to talk to Adrien as if he was Chat. She had to pretend he was Chat for just a minute. That couldn't be too hard.**

 **"** **Well… uhh… look; About what you saw on the show… the totagraphs… in my room". What sort of excuse was she going to make up to cover herself this time? "You mean the photographs?" Adrien's voice rang out. She looked at the confused expression on his face. Wasn't that what she said? "The grotographs! Exactly!" She had just said that; Grotographs.**

 **She just had to think of Adrien as Chat. She was just talking to Chat. She pictured the face of her carefree partner. She just needed to breathe**

 **"** **It's not what you think…" She had actually spoken a complete sentence. She just had to remember that it was just like talking to Chat. It was easy! No biggie. Nothing to worry about. She let out a sigh and looked directly into Adrien's eyes. They were so green. That same glossed, pearlescent green as her partner's eyes. Weird... they really did look like Chat's eyes. They were the same color and everything. How had she not noticed that before…? But that didn't matter; The thing that mattered was convincing Adrien that this was all a misunderstanding. It couldn't be too hard. Besides, she was talking to her overly flirtatious partner, not Adrien.**

 **"** **See, i'm really into fashion and…" The story seemed plausible so far, but that didn't exactly explain the photos. She glanced at Adrien, only to be met with him giving her a slightly mischievous look. That look; It was so familiar. And she had seen that look before. Where did she know that look from? And why was Adrien looking at her like that….?**

 **"** **Are you lying?"**

 **Adrien's eyes narrowed, and his smile widened. That smile… it was so much… No; EXACTLY like Chat's. And that look was his too. Suddenly, her partner's face flooded her mind, and she recalled the various occasions where he had looked at her like that. That exact same way. And she just now noticed it. How everything added up. How it couldn't be true. It wasn't even possible. She was imagining everything in the heat of the moment.**

 **Adrien leaned in closer to Marinette, mere inches away from her face. She took in a quick breath of air. That look… was Chat's. That was Chat. It was Chat. The sudden realization took her instantly by surprise. How did she not notice everything sooner? But… this couldn't be. That would mean that her partner… was Adrien this whole time. And she had been rejecting him. But that also meant that his heart belonged to Ladybug. But…. No…. no no no no.**

 **He was standing so close to her. She couldn't take it. He loved Ladybug. She leaned backward and pushed both outstretched hands against his chest to create some distance between them. She looked into his eyes; Chat's eyes. It couldn't be. But it was. She pushed him away, not even remembering what the question he had asked was.**

 **"** **I… I…."**

 **She couldn't take him staring at her like that. She couldn't bear the thought of him being Chat Noir. Tears welled up in her eyes as she backed up slowly. Adrien's expression quickly went from cheeky and teasing to concerned and anxious. And she couldn't take him looking at her with those oh-so familiar eyes.**

 **She turned and ran towards the locker room door as fast as she could, not knowing what she was going to do about this, or where she would be going to get out of this place and away from Adrien. She just couldn't handle seeing him; Chat… again today. She ran out of the school gates, not having another choice. She ran to her house, not caring about the looks from others. Tears rushed down her face as she yanked the door to the bakery open. Her parents would understand her missing school for just one day… right…?**

*Author's Note*

So yea… hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! I will try to have the second chapter out by 6/21 (This Thursday). Thank you so much for reading my fanfic! ^w^


	2. Chapter 2- Lingering Questions

*Author's Note*

Hey everyone! First things first, I want to thank you all for waiting so patiently for the release of this chapter! I hope it'll be worth it… Anyway! This chapter has a little bit less… action? But I promise, the next chapter will be full of action! This chapter was more of a filler chapter than anything. But the next chapter is when things start actually happening… and I will have it out by next Sunday, 7-1 (Wow; we're almost in July…? O-O) Anyway… I just wanted to mention that I am INCREDIBLY THANKFUL for all of the support being shown for my work. It truly means the world to me! ^w^ So thank you all for everything! I hope you enjoy this second chapter of "Mistaken"!

Chapter Two: Lingering Questions

Adrien stood still, completely unable to move as he watched Marinette run towards the door. "Wait!" He called out a second too late. And were those… tears?! Why was she crying? What had he done…? He opened his mouth to say something, only to realize that it was of no use. He kept staring on as his kwami flew out of Adrien's jacket, looking at Adrien with an expression that said "Seriously". Adrien sighed, then turned to face Plagg. "Too Much?" He muttered. "Yup." Plagg responded dully. Adrien let out a sigh. "Plagg, what do you think all of that was about?"

Adrien asked his kwami. Plagg opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped. "I don't know…". Adrien sighed, confused about what had just happened.

Plagg knew, but Plagg couldn't say. Tikki would know. And the only thing Plagg loved more than his camembert was Tikki. And he wouldn't betray her trust like that. Besides… she'd probably end his life if he told Adrien who Ladybug was. So, he was going to stay silent about this, even though he desperately wanted to tell his chosen. And what he also wanted to tell his chosen was that he knew the exact reason that Ladybug; Marinette; just ran away. The cat kwami knew about Marinette's crush on Adrien, because it was literally TOO OBVIOUS. And he knew she hadn't run away because of that. Plagg believed that Marinette had run away because Adrien was acting too much like his alter ego. And Marinette had picked up on it, and instantly made the connection between Adrien and Chat Noir. The expression on Marinette's face had said it all. First she had tried to act as if Adrien was Chat, and then when Adrien ACTUALLY started acting like Chat, she put the pieces together. Plagg honestly didn't blame her for running away.

Adrien stood in silence for long seconds, trying to process everything that had happened in the past few minutes. Why had Marinette actually run away…? Did that mean… No… It couldn't be. That didn't actually mean that Marinette had a crush on him… did it…? Adrien took a deep breath, then looked at Plagg. "Plagg… Marinette… she doesn't… have a crush on me… right…?". Plagg looked at the oblivious boy in front of him and shook his head out of frustration. "No…? No, she doesn't…?"." No, she does," Plagg murmured, then quickly shot his tiny paws over his mouth, realizing that he shouldn't have said that. "Wait… she does…?", Adrien said, his eyes lighting up. "Uhhhh…." Plagg muttered, trying to sound as unsure as possible. "Really?" Adrien said, his voice dying down to a whisper. "I don't know… maybe". Suddenly, a loud noise rang through the speakers in the locker room. The warning bell. "Plagg, I'm going to be late for class!" Adrien said worriedly. Plagg flew into Adrien's jacket, and Adrien proceeded to run out of the locker room, and up the stairs.

He rushed through the doors and into his seat just as the final bell rang. Adrien let out an exhausted sigh, then laid his head on his arms. But he felt something tap at his shoulders. He turned around to see Alya looking at him with a worried expression on her face. "Have you seen Marinette?" Alya whispered. Adrien froze. He didn't know what he should tell her. But Marinette wasn't here now… so; "I'm sorry, Alya. I haven't seen her. I was looking for her though." Adrien replied, trying to sound as sincere as possible. He didn't want to admit to Marinette's best friend that he was responsible for causing Marinette to run off the school grounds crying. Alya frowned, a frustrated look on her face. He could see her open her mouth to speak, but Miss Bustier walked in, causing both Adrien and Alya to turn around and face their teacher.

Long seconds passed. Miss Bustier tapped her fingers on her desk, looking around the classroom. She sighed impatiently. "Is Marinette absent or late… does anyone know…?" Murmurs resonated through the classroom, but nobody seemed to know. But then, someone spoke up. "She's probably late; again. I bet she can't get her sorry butt out of bed. But yet again, what's new?" Chloe said, smirking. Adrien sank back in his seat. Chloe suddenly sat straight upright in her seat. "She's probably too busy whining about that TV nonsense shot at her house yesterday. She's probably too embarrassed to show her face here. Besides… did you see all of those pictures of MY ADRIKINS she had in her room…? Talk about lame. I mean, who is she kidding. Adrien is OBVIOUSLY taken… by me." Adrien shook his head and tightly shut his eyes. He could barely stand Chloe trash-talking Marinette. Behind her back. Or Chloe saying that he was hers. "I mean, puh-lease; Adrikins would never love some lower class, overly obsessed-".

"Chloe, quit it." Adrien said, loud enough for Chloe to hear. "Why? You're not going to stick up for that pathetic-". "Chloe, I said quit it.". Adrien said, looking directly at her, an annoyed expression on his face. "Why do you care about Marinette? She's a creep! She had all of those pictures of you. She's obviously got some problem." Chloe said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Chloe, what you don't understand is that Marinette is my FRIEND. And I don't appreciate you talking about her like that. Especially when she's not even here to defend herself".

A shocked expression came over Chloe's face. "She's your friend…? Even after you saw all of those pictures of you EVERYWHERE in her room. She's a stalker, that's what she is." Adrien paused for a second. "Chloe, she's a fashion designer. She…. she's making me something… I'm helping her with some of her new designs. I gave her permission to use all of those pictures. She's not being a stalker… she's using reference pictures to model off of. It's nothing more than that, okay Chloe….?" Chloe's brows furrowed. "But ADRIEEENN." Chloe whined. Then after a few seconds of silence, she put her head down on her desk, defeated. Sabrina pat her friend on the back, as whispered echoed around the class.

Alya looked at Nino, who was looking at Adrien in astonishment. When Nino glanced backward, Alya motioned for him to come closer. Nino leaned up to Alya, and Alya opened her mouth to whisper something in his ear when the voice of their teacher rang out. "Class, settle down please." Everybody faced their teacher, who started walking towards her seat behind her desk. "Is Marinette here or not?" She said emotionlessly. "I don't think so, Miss Bustier." Alya spoke. "Ok…" Miss Bustier replied, sitting down in her seat, muttering something to herself.

"Yo, dude." Nino whispered to Adrien. Adrien glanced over to his friend, unsure of what Nino was going to say. "Good on you for standing up for Marinette like that!" Nino whispered, smiling at Adrien. Adrien smiled back. "What else was I going to do?" Adrien said, looking his friend in the eyes. "Good point, dude!" Nino said, fist-bumping his friend. "Besides" Adrien whispered. "Marinette's my friend." Nino nodded, but then immediately turned to face Alya when she hit him on the head with her pencil. Luckily, he was wearing his hat, which stopped the impact of the pencil on his actual head. Yet it still hurt. Nino looked at Alya with a "What was that for?" expression. Alya stared into Nino's eyes for a few seconds, then scribbled something on a piece of paper. When she was done, she passed it to him when Miss Bustier wasn't looking.

Nino sighed, then unfolded the paper. "Adrien says Marinette's just a friend, huh?" The paper read. Nino placed the paper on his desk and wrote his response. He then discreetly passed the paper back to Alya. Alya unfolded it quickly and read Nino's response. "Hard to believe after Adrien defended her like that. But I see where you're going with this, Alya." She smirked while reading Nino's reply, then wrote her own, handing it to Nino. "Nino, we need to work harder to get Adrien to admit to himself that he likes Mari. Both Mari and Adrien will be happier that way."

Nino jotted his next reply down and started to hand[C1] the note to Alya when he heard the voice of their teacher.

"Ahem." Miss Bustier said, tapping her foot on the ground, looking directly at both Alya and Nino. They jumped to attention, facing their teacher, nervous looks on both of their faces. Miss Bustier made a gesture with her hand, indicating for Nino to hand the note over. He sighed reluctantly and placed the note in her outstretched hand. He looked at his teacher with a pleading expression. But he knew it wouldn't do him any good.

Miss Bustier walked to her desk, reading the note. Nino and Alya looked at each other. The rest of the class didn't really seem to care about what was happening. But everyone's attention was drawn back to their instructor when she started laughing. Nino and Alya shared confused glances. Miss Bustier walked over to Alya and Nino, a huge smile on her face. "You guys are right." She said, under her breath. Nino smiled, looking at Alya's reaction to this whole thing. She was smiling from ear to ear. Miss Bustier then looked at Adrien and patted him on the shoulder. Nino and Alya laughed quietly. Adrien just stared at his friend, with a "What did you do?" expression. Nino just smiled at his completely oblivious friend.

Other then the little note incident, the rest of the first half of the day was completely normal. And boring. Nino and Alya walked to lunch, smiling and laughing, likely about the note. Adrien walked down the stairs, an emotionless expression plastered on his face. He couldn't stop thinking about Marinette. He didn't know exactly why. He couldn't seem to get Plagg's earlier remark off of his mind. His earlier remark about Marinette having a crush on him. His kwami seemed so sure when he said it. But yet again, this was Plagg he was talking about. He might've just said that in the heat of the moment. But yet again, Plagg seemed to know something he did not. Was his kwami actually speaking the truth earlier. He just couldn't seem to rip that question; or Marinette from his jumbled thoughts.

He walked over to a vacant bench, unable to think of anything other than his blue-haired friend. Why exactly had he defended her like that earlier? He could have just told Chloe to stop, left it at that, and been done with it. But he claimed that he gave Mari permission to use those photographs. And he didn't know why, but Alya had kept staring at him after that. Probably because of the Chloe incident… Or the note incident. Or both. He didn't know what to think anymore.

He spent the entirety of lunch thinking about Marinette. Did she actually like him? Or maybe he had just scared her off with that bold, Chat-like action. He didn't know. All he knew was that his heart ultimately belonged to Ladybug. Marinette was great. She was more than great. And he did admit, maybe he had some small feelings for her. But those small feelings couldn't compare to the love he felt for his lady. He would ultimately have to reject Marinette if she really did like him, which broke his heart. He just hoped his friend really didn't have a crush on him, and he was just imagining things.

The rest of the day seemed like an eternity. But after all, that's how school was. Adrien just stared at the clock, time seeming to be stuck in place. There were only a few minutes until he would be graced with freedom from this place. As the day went on, his thoughts had wandered away from Plagg's remark, and from the lingering question about if Marinette had a crush on him. Instead, they were now glued to a more important question; was Marinette ok? She had run off in tears… she could get akumatized at any minute. And he did NOT want to fight her. Ever. For now, he just wanted to make sure she was still ok. He just wanted to make sure she was still the bubbly, quirky, Marinette he knew and loved. Well… love was a strong word. But it didn't matter at this exact moment. What mattered was Marinette's safety.

The second the bell rang, Adrien rushed out of the class and to his ride as fast as he could. He opened the car door swiftly and jumped into his ride, who left promptly. "Please let Marinette be ok..." He whispered to himself. He just prayed that she would be fine. But yet again, he needed to check on her; but not as Adrien. This job was to be left up to his alter ego.

The minute he got home, he considered rushing to Marinette's house, but quickly realized that that wouldn't be the best option. Firstly, it was still light out, and all of Paris would be able to see him running to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. And secondly, he needed some kind of… reason to be at Marinette's house. He needed some reason to know to check on her. So he couldn't leave now; He had to wait until it was dark if he wanted to do this right.

Minutes passed as slowly as hours, until it was finally dark. Adrien threw a piece of camembert at Plagg, who ate it in one bite. Then Adrien smiled at his kwami, who shot him a confused and worried glance. "Now that you've eaten, Plagg, CLAWS OUT!" "But wait… where are we going?!" Plagg managed to shout before getting sucked into the magic ring. Adrien now looked at his gloved hands, then smiled to himself. He then spoke, as walking towards his window. "To Marinette's house".

*Author's Note*

I'm really sorry I ended this chapter on a cliffhanger… but I'm warning you now; there'll be A BUNCH of those. Because what can I say…? Cliffhangers are the worst/best! ^w^

* * *

[C1]


	3. Chapter 3- Staying

Hey everyone! First things first, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for not uploading this yesterday. It's just that my computer has been acting really weird for these past few days. So I'm going to try to get that fixed. Secondly, I have a Beta now! So I'm really glad and thankful for that! I totally recommend you check them out (The link is at the bottom of this chapter)! The third thing I'm going to say is that since it is the week of the 4th of July, I will be out of town, and that means that I don't know when I'll have the next chapter done. But I promise I'll have it done as soon as I can. So be prepared for me randomly posting the 4th chapter. And the last thing I have to say is thank you all so much! I have over 2,000 views, which is something I never imagined was possible! So thank you all for all of the support!

Chapter 3: Staying

Marinette sat on her floor, her back pressed up against her chaise. She stared at the floor, completely still. Tikki had been sitting on the chaise, watching Marinette worriedly. Tikki knew that Marinette was strong and had a positive outlook on life… mostly. But this; Tikki had seen Marinette sad before, but never like this. Marinette had been sitting there for three hours and had barely moved. And it was honestly scaring Tikki. This was a bit extensive. But Tikki wouldn't leave her side. She wouldn't let her chosen be akumatized. Tikki scanned the room, looking for any sign of movement from any akuma trying to take advantage of Marinette. But for now, it looked as if Marinette was holding herself together. But the silence… It made Tikki very anxious. Marinette, who usually talked to the kwami about everything, was completely silent. And Tikki knew that that couldn't be good.

Marinette had not talked, moved, acknowledged anything, or really shown any sign of life in over 3 hours. And considering the fact that Tikki barely knew what was happening, this was concerning. Tikki had overheard everything, but… well, she didn't exactly see anything. She couldn't see what Adrien did to cause Marinette to react like that. At first, Tikki thought that it might have been because of Adrien asking Marinette if she was lying. She thought that maybe Marinette hadn't been prepared for that question and didn't know how to respond. But the more that Tikki thought about that option, the more she realized that that probably wasn't what had happened.

Marinette was determined to not let Adrien discover her crush on him like this, but she was even more determined to stay friends with him, no matter what. She had run through many scenarios that could occur if she managed to bump into him. And she ran through these scenarios for 2 hours before she went to bed the night before, so that she would be completely prepared if she did manage to be confronted by him. Tikki even vaguely remembered Marinette going through the "What if he thinks I'm lying?" scenario. So, she should have been prepared for that question, which meant that this wasn't what had actually happened.

Tikki had thought about what else it could have been, while Marinette had sat on her floor, motionlessly. And as 3 hours had passed of Tikki scanning for Akumas, and Marinette staying completely still, Tikki had received more than enough time to think about the answer to her question. And now, 3 hours later, she did believe it was simply because of the question "Are you lying?". But not because of the original reason that she thought it was. Now, several hours later, she replayed the scene in her mind, realizing something crucial. Throughout the conversation, everything had stayed consistent, except for during when Adrien had asked Marinette if she was lying. When Adrien said those three words, his inflection had changed. Drastically.

And as Tikki looked back on those 5 seconds, she realized that Marinette had likely linked Adrien to his alter ego. And Tikki could only guess that she now knew who Chat Noir was. Tikki desperately wanted to ask Marinette if that was the case or not, but she didn't know how. She also didn't know how Marinette was really handling all of this. Tikki gathered her thoughts to speak, deciding that she wouldn't ask Marinette if she knew who Chat was… Not yet at least. She would first ask Marinette if she was okay. After all; that was the more important question. Tikki took a deep breath, and started to speak, when she was interrupted by Marinette's phone.

Marinette didn't react. Tikki flew over to Marinette's phone to see who was calling. It was Alya. Tikki smiled. Alya'd be able to cheer Marinette up! Yet Marinette continued to stare at her hands. Tikki frowned, then picked the phone up in her tiny hands, placing it directly beside Marinette. Yet the girl didn't react. She instead stayed completely motionless, void of all emotion, all the life drained from her eyes. It was as if she was in some sort of trance.

Tikki had to do something. "Uh, Marinette…?" Tikki said, barely over a whisper. She looked into Marinette's eyes, which suddenly refocused on the Kwami. Tikki backed up out of surprise due to the sudden change. Tikki smiled at Marinette, but was only met with silence in return. "Marinette, your phone-" Tikki started. But she was suddenly stopped by Marinette staring at the kwami, hatred in her eyes. But no; It wasn't just hatred. Marinette's eyes were just… cold. Cold and dull and staring into Tikki's with a burning anger. "Marinette… it was Alya" Tikki whispered. Marinette's hands balled into fists. For the first time, Tikki felt slightly afraid that Marinette might do something uncalled for.

At this point, the phone had stopped ringing. Tikki summoned up all her courage and asked one final question. "Marinette, are you okay?" "I'm fine." Marinette responded, her voice flat. Tikki knew immediately that Marinette was lying; Marinette was NOT fine. Marinette was emotionally unstable. For now, at least. And Tikki didn't dare say anything else, as she would rather not be the target of all that bottled up emotion.

Tikki watched as the colors in the room changed, as the sun began to set. But yet again, everything seemed blurred to her, as the only thing she was focused on right now was Marinette's safety. She honestly didn't know how Marinette was right now. She didn't even know if Marinette was getting better or worse. The kwami just had to hope that Marinette wasn't getting worse. She didn't know how much more either of them could take.

* * *

Chat Noir jumped from rooftop to rooftop, sprinting. He felt his feet thump against the rough surface of the rooftops. He felt the wind pushing against his face. He felt his heart beating rapidly. He felt the freedom he now had as he jumped to the next rooftop. But he couldn't focus on that; he had to get to Marinette. That was what he had to focus on. And he could just feel that he barely had any time to waste.

He slowed his pace as he neared Marinette's balcony. None of her lights were on. Was she asleep? He doubted it; The sun had barely set 15 minutes ago. And it was only 7:00. Something seemed… off… about the darkness in Marinette's room. He had never seen her room shrouded in darkness like that. It almost seemed as if it wasn't her room at all. He cautiously approached, and placed his hand on the window. He listened for anything that could indicate that Marinette was completely recovered from earlier. But he heard nothing, which filled him with dread. He peered into Marinette's window, hoping that the lights were off because she was asleep. Her bed was below him, but as he saw that she wasn't there, he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

If she wasn't asleep, then why were her lights off? Maybe she wasn't in her room at all. Maybe she was somewhere else in her house. But it wouldn't be wrong of him to check and make sure that she was actually okay. He needed to see that she was actually okay. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if she got akumatized because of him.

He knocked on the window; No response. He knocked again, this time louder. Silence. That was all he heard. He slowly opened the window, then jumped down onto Marinette's bed. He looked around her room, seeing nothing as his eyes adjusted. But he suddenly saw a flicker of movement; Marinette. She was staring at the floor, now completely still. He was glad that she was okay, but at the same time, this wasn't like Marinette. She wasn't okay.

"Marinette?" He whispered. No response. "Marinette…" He said a bit louder this time. No response. He could see that she was breathing. That was good. He carefully crawled down her ladder, then stared at her for a second. "Hey… Marinette…" He said softly. She suddenly looked straight into his eyes, as if she were expecting him to come. "Hey Mari- ""Go away." She said, her voice emotionless. "Marinette I'm here to help you… I just- ""I said leave." She said, her voice laced with anger. Chat sighed.

He crept closer to her, than reached out his hand to grab her shoulder reassuringly. But to his surprise, she slapped it away. With some force, he might add. He pulled his hand back and stared at the girl in front of him. What exactly did he do earlier to make her this mad? "Hey, Marinette," He said, his voice suddenly more serious. She stared at him with a burning anger. "Marinette, I'm not leaving you until I know you're okay!" "I'm fine." She said between clenched teeth. "You're not" Chat said, staring back at her. He reached out his hand again, but she slapped it back a second time.

"Leave me alone, Chat Noir!" She growled, jumping to her feet. He did the same, quickly gaining his balance. He wasn't leaving until he was sure she wouldn't get akumatized. "Marinette, no. I'm not letting you become Hawkmoth's prey." He took one step toward her, but she swung her fist toward him. He dodged this attack but stared into her eyes. Those eyes, which had once been filled with life, were now glossed over, and he saw nothing but a hollow shell of the Marinette he knew. That meant one thing for him; he needed to get the real Marinette back.

He wasn't paying attention. She had backed him into her work desk. She stopped, mere inches away from his face, then pointed toward her balcony window. "Out." She muttered under her breath. "Mari- ""Get OUT!" She screeched. He didn't have a choice. He walked to her ladder and started climbing up it when he noticed a tear roll down her cheek. Now he knew he wasn't leaving. More tears followed the first one, and he watched her put her hands over her face from the corner of his eyes. That's it; He was staying.

He jumped down off the ladder and prepared himself for another outburst from her as he reached his hand out and placed it on one of her hands, which was covering her face. Nothing. She didn't react in any way. Yet he was still expecting it. But he was not expecting Marinette to tear her hands away from her face and immediately pull Chat into a tight hug, sobbing uncontrollably. He stood in shock for a second, then pulled Marinette closer. He didn't expect this turn of events, yet they had all happened. Somehow.

And there he stood, his arms wrapped around her, holding the girl tightly, Marinette uncontrollably crying into his shoulder.

* * *

u/9767474/ (The link to my beta's profile)


End file.
